EAST LANSING – The greatness of Michigan State's defense last season was truly only explained once — in December in Indianapolis.

It happened as the Spartans made Ohio State's final four drives fruitless in the Big Ten championship, when their resolve and gumption somehow overcame the Buckeyes' ferocious and suddenly steamrolling talent.

MSU's defense made a decision in those critical moments. Staring at defeat, it decided otherwise. Not in the Spartans' pummeling of Michigan, nor in their final stand in the Rose Bowl — or anywhere else along the way — did MSU's defense face such a gut check.

For all of the legitimate questions about this unit entering this season, any pound-for-pound August comparisons to last year are not only premature, but impossible. What made that storied MSU defense Big Ten champions, was a rare ability to reverse seemingly irreversible momentum.

As expectations for MSU's program soar, as last season becomes a hopeful springboard to an elite era, the characteristics that made last season's Spartans elite shouldn't be overlooked.

Among the most essential — a defense's spirit and aptitude against adversity.

Whether that exists in this version of MSU's defense can't be known until the alternative is defeat.

The players on this year's defense sound sure they have this quality again, saying they learned so in August camp, especially during two trying scrimmages.

"I can already tell," said senior linebacker Taiwan Jones, who slated to start in the middle this season, replacing the defense's cerebral epicenter, Max Bullough. "Even though a lot of guys on the defense are pretty young, you can just tell, by the demeanor, the way they come out every day, the way they step up in practice. It's more than just talent. It's effort.

"You can find out from a scrimmage when the offense comes out and scores right away. As soon as they score, you've got to look at your guys, 'Alright, what's next? What are you going to do? Are you going to quit, or are we going to keep fighting?' "

Effort and perseverance are admirable and necessary traits. But Jones, and several of his like-minded brethren, are forgetting the difference between staying in the fight, and conquering a worthy foe.

MSU's 2012 defense had fight. It was an outstanding unit, among the top 10 in the country. But it could not will the offensively inept Spartans to victory — hence the 7-6 record, with five losses by a total of 13 points, many coming after a failed defensive stand.

Kurtis Drummond sacks Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan late in the fourth quarter of MSU?s 13th win of the season.
Kevin W. Fowler/For the LSJ Kurtis Drummond (right) opf MSU sacks Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan late in the 4th quarter of the 2014 Rose Bowl Wednesday January 1, 2014 in Pasadena, California. The sack pushed Stanford back to the 2o yard line on a 3rd and 7. KEVIN W. FOWLER PHOTO(Photo: Kevin W. Fowler, Kevin W. Fowler | for the Lansin)

The heartache of that season helped create the defensive makeup of last season. Vivid memories of frustration, anger and disappointment, collided with experienced talent and a ticking clock. Without all of it — probably including defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi moving down to the sidelines against Ohio State — MSU's Rose Bowl experience comes without a Big Ten championship and isn't quite the same.

The heartache isn't so fresh anymore. The drive, instead, is coming from the memory of what it took for 2013 to happen, and the dream of repeating it.

Maybe that's just as well. Perhaps the most important qualities of last season's defense, mindset included, will carry over.

The telling moment, though, won't be dominance. It'll come in a moment of vulnerability.